Engraving Stainless Steel Cups like Yeti and Hydroflask
Stainless steel tumblers and containers are HUGE right now. You see people customizing them all over the place. In the Lubbock area, you mostly see vinyl lettering and decals on them. In my opinion, that's not the best way to protect a $40 cup. If you want to make it your own, have it laser etched with bold, permanent markings.
To mark on vacuum sealed cups and mugs, we use an additive marking system. No metal is removed and no damage is done to the metal's integrity. One thing you should be aware of is that Yeti's warranty is voided by ANY modifications to their products, not just laser marking. If you're going to mark a tumbler, make sure that it's a method that will not compromise the integrity of the item because you won't be sending it back in.
The big questions most people have are:
1) What is the cost?
The cost is simple on the cups, $15 for the first side and $10 for the second. The marked area is approximately 3"x3" on most items. The turn around time is usually two to three business days, but that varies with order levels in the store and the size of your order. We get them done as soon as physically possible. Discounts are available in case quantities.
2) What can be etched onto a cup?
The possibilities are almost endless. We can do business logos if they are in a black and white vector format, line art works best. We can do text in a vast number of fonts, and we can do unlicensed artwork that is in a vector format as well.
3) What if my logo isn't in a vector format?
Most reputable graphics designers will have vector file formats available for you. Just get in touch with them and see if they can send you the file in AI, EPS or CDR formats. If they don't have your logo in a vector format, we can attempt to convert it from a high quality image. If it's an easy conversion, we won't charge you a dime. If it's more difficult, but still possible, it's a $20 charge. For those logos that can not possible be converted because of detail, or quality issues, we can have our graphic designer recreate it for you for a fee. The fee is generally in the neighborhood of $65-$120, but that can vary with the scope of the logo.
4) Can it be marked in other colors?
Unfortunately, the only color available for laser marking at this time is black. The manufacturer of the chemical used is actually working on color marking solutions, but they have not announced success or a release date as of yet.
5) Do they come in colors?
Powder coated tumblers are everywhere. We can engrave most of the tumblers on the market. Laser engraving a powder coated tumbler removes the coating revealing the stainless steel color beneath. Depending on the color of the coating, the mark can be subtle or a bold contrast. We do thousands of these each year.
I hope this answers everyone's questions about their cups. If you're ready to get them done, just drop by the store. We will be happy to get you taken care of.
Hey! Are you willing to share information about your engraving machine? What company/brand is it? And most importantly if you would recommend it? Thank you for your time!
Jeff, we have worked on it a lot. we can etch a photo, but I have to say the quality still isn’t what we would like to see. It comes out looking very “dotty” as my wife would say. Since there is very little capability in actual shading, shading is handled bye the distance between dots. This gives it almost a dot matrix print look. We’re still trying new things and seeing where we can go with the system. We are also looking at a new type of laser for marking, probably in the next couple of months, and I think that it will have much better photo capabilities on stainless than a standard CO2 laser. I will definitely let everyone know when it arrives!
Do you have a process yet for photographs on a yeti type rambler mug yet? Or is that still in development?
Hi Julie. We are able to engrave on almost any of the stainless steel tumblers. If you are local, stop by the store at your convenience. If you aren’t local, you can ship your tumbler to us for engraving. Just contact us for details and we will be more than happy to help you get it done.
Hi Chris. Unfortunately, we don’t sell any off brands, we carry the SIC Tumbler, which is one of the best on the market. In our opinion, it is the best. It is more reasonably priced than some of the others and functions better than any we have tested. Get in touch with us and we can see about setting you up with a customized case price for the tumbler and engraving.